Most Democratic voters supported Hillary Clinton, but some traditionally Democratic counties in the Rust Belt voted for Donald Trump. One reason given for Trump winning counties in

Appalachian Ohio Appalachian Ohio is a bioregion and political unit in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, characterized by the western foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and the Appalachian Plateau. The Appalachian Regional Commission defines t ...

in the 2016 Ohio Republican primary was Democratic voters opposed to free trade who had voted in the Republican primary. In general CNN exit polls showed Ohio Democratic voters with slightly less support for Clinton than the national average, and Trump receiving higher support among Democratic voters in Ohio than Romney had in 2012. Hillary Clinton had relatively low support in Appalachia from Democratic voters. In interviews with '' The Guardian'', Appalachian Democrats voting for Trump cited concerns about

NAFTA The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...

and coal-mining. An exit poll showed Donald Trump receiving 22% of the Democratic vote in Kentucky, a state Clinton had won overwhelmingly in the 2008 presidential primary. Elliott County, Kentucky, which had the longest unbroken streak of voting Democrat of any county in the United States, went for Trump. Some Appalachian states, such as Tennessee and West Virginia, did not have exit polls. Overall CNN exit polls indicated Clinton received 89% of the Democratic vote, compared with House Democrats receiving 92% of the Democratic vote. The difference between percentage of Republicans voting for a Republican representative and voting for Trump was six points. The Democrats who voted for Trump have been labelled " Trumpocrats". There were also Democratic voters who favored Jill Stein. In Oregon, Stein received one percent of the Democratic vote according to CNN exit polls, equal to the total for all third-party voting among Democrats in 2012.

Prominent Democrats who supported other candidates

This list also includes people who left the Democratic Party in 2016.

Democrats for Trump

* Robert Kraft, Owner of the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

* David Clarke, Sheriff of

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous coun ...

. While Clarke is elected as a Democrat, he has refused membership in, and has been very critical of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. *

Michael T. Flynn Michael Thomas Flynn (born December 24, 1958) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general and conspiracy theorist who was the 24th U.S. National Security Advisor for the first 22 days of the Trump administration. He resigned in light of ...

, retired 3-star General, former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency * Tom Luken, former mayor of Cincinnati and former United States Representative * Richard Ojeda, a member of the West Virginia Senate from the 7th district. Ojeda says he voted for Trump, but Ojeda did not actively campaign for him. * David Saunders, political strategist and author *

Andrew Stein Andrew Stein (born Andrew J. Finkelstein; March 4, 1945) is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician who served on the New York City Council and was its last president, and as Manhattan Borough President. Early life St ...

, former Borough President of Manhattan and President of the New York City Council *

Adam Walinsky Adam Walinsky (born 1937) is a lawyer who served in the United States Department of Justice and as a speechwriter for Robert F. Kennedy. He had also been the 1970 nominee for New York Attorney General by the Democratic Party. He criticized Ira St ...

, lawyer who served in the Department of Justice and as a speechwriter for Robert F. Kennedy *

R. James Woolsey Jr. Robert James Woolsey Jr. (born September 21, 1941) is an American political appointee who has served in various senior positions. He headed the Central Intelligence Agency as Director of Central Intelligence from February 5, 1993, until January 1 ...

, former

Director of Central Intelligence The director of central intelligence (DCI) was the head of the American Central Intelligence Agency from 1946 to 2005, acting as the principal intelligence advisor to the president of the United States and the United States National Security C ...

Democrats for Stein

Cecil Bothwell Cecil Bothwell (born 16 October 1950) is an American politician, writer, artist, musician and builder. Bothwell was elected to the Asheville, North Carolina city council in 2009 and reelected in 2013, but lost in the 2017 primary, coming in 7th ...

, member of the

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

city council (switched to Independent) *

Jimmy Dore James Patrick Anthony Dore (born July 26, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, political commentator, podcaster, and YouTube personality. He is the host of ''The Jimmy Dore Show'', a comedic talk show on YouTube where he interviews guests of a ...

, comedian and political commentator (switched to Independent) * Coleen Rowley, former FBI agent and congressional candidate * Susan Sarandon, actress

Others

Jim Justice James Conley Justice II (born April 27, 1951) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the 36th governor of West Virginia since 2017. Justice had a net worth of $1.2 billion in September 2018, making him the wealthiest person ...

, Democratic nominee for governor of West Virginia. Justice joined the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

in 2017. * Rocky De La Fuente, businessman and 2016 presidential candidate. De La Fuente joined the Republican Party in 2017. *

Caitlin Flanagan Caitlin Flanagan (born November 14, 1961) is an American writer and social critic. A contributor to ''The Atlantic'' since February 2001, she was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2019. Her 2004 piece for ''The New Yorker'' was e ...

, writer and

social critic Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in particular with respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general. Social criticism of the Enlightenment The orig ...

Douglas Schoen Douglas Schoen (born June 27, 1953) is an American lawyer, political analyst, author, lobbyist, and commentator. Education Schoen attended Horace Mann School in New York City. While still a high school student, he canvassed the Upper West Side ...

, conservative analyst and Democratic political operative. Schoen has a long record of criticizing the Democratic Party while a Fox News contributor. *

Douglas Wilder Lawrence Douglas Wilder (born January 17, 1931) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 66th Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. He was the first African American to serve as governor of a U.S. state since the Reconstruction ...

, former Governor of Virginia

Notes

References